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Pidge (Legendary Defender)
Katie "Pidge" Holt is a former communications cadet at the Galaxy Garrison, and former pilot of the Green Lion of Voltron. She is a strategic fighter, and a highly intelligent, versatile hacker and inventor who disguised herself as a boy named "Pidge Gunderson" to search for the truth about her missing family. She's fiercely loyal to her friends and an independent thinker. After season 8 Pidge left Voltron to follow her dreams Appearance Pidge is a shorter-than-average human girl masquerading as a boy, and her appearance reflects her androgynous personal style. She is the slimmest and shortest of the Paladins. She has brown eyes, fair skin, and disheveled light brown hair. She makes no obvious effort to cut or style her hair, so it tends to form two spikes on either side of her head and unruly bangs. She dons wire-framed, round, circular glasses with fake lenses to address her lack of actual visual impairment. Prior to her entry into the Garrison, Pidge had long hair and wore a purple dress with puffy sleeves and a white pinafore. She accessorized with Mary Jane shoes and a purple headband. She also wore a green and white long-sleeved shirt, black leggings, and had her hair up in a side ponytail. Pidge is first seen in her senior cadet uniform at the galaxy Garrison. She wore a white coat with a mandarin collar and an orange chest and sleeves. The coat zips up at the front, had two gold stripes to reflect her rank, and a gold badge on her right shoulder. She also wore black pants, a black belt, and boots. Pidge's casual outfit is comfort-orientated, loose, and androgynous. She wears a white shirt with green shoulders and a green waistband, and dark grey shorts. The jumper has pockets and a high floppy collar is secured with a grey neck brace. As a Paladin of Voltron, Pidge donned the standard white armour with green highlights associated with her position as pilot of the Green Lion. During the Fire of Purification's invasion of Earth, Pidge wore a custom Galaxy Garrison senior cadet uniform. It was a white coat with a mandarin collar, green chest and sleeves, buttoning up near the right breast pocket. It had a black belt with the Voltron 'V' on the buckle and two gold stripes acknowledging Pidge's previous rank. In her final appearance, Pidge is dressed for her science in a green v-neck tee, lab coat and big, blue-tinted glasses. Biography Katie's father and brother were lost on a mission to Kerberos, a moon of Pluto, along with Shiro. Refusing to believe the official report of their deaths by pilot error, Katie began her unrelenting search for her missing family. After being discovered hacking into Galaxy Garrison computers, she was escorted off the property and forbidden from ever returning. To further her investigation, she went undercover as a Galaxy Garrison cadet by the name of "Pidge Gunderson" and cut her hair and donned glasses to disguise herself as a boy. Infiltrating the Galaxy Garrison, she wound up assigned to a team with Lance and Hunk, beginning their friendship. Pidge eventually developed machinery to pick up interstellar radio chatter, which allowed her to learn of Galra Empire activity on the edge of the solar system. Pidge and her teammates - who had recently failed a simulation flight to Kerberos - then saw a Galran escape craft carrying Shiro crash-land in the nearby desert. The trio went to break him out of Galaxy Patrol custody, but were beaten to that goal by Keith who they then joined in his escape. Following Keith's investigations into unusual energy readings, the group eventually found the Blue Lion in a nearby cavern. After narrowly escaping a Galra attack, the group found themselves transported via wormhole to Arus, where they met Princess Allura and Coran and learned about Voltron. Given the chance to save her home and the galaxy, Pidge and her teammates became the new Paladins of Voltron, with Pidge becoming the pilot of the Green Lion. Shiro accompanied Pidge to a dense forest planet where the Green Lion was hidden, where it accepted her as its pilot. When the Red Lion was discovered aboard Sendak's ship, the Paladins took the three Lions they had available into action to retrieve it. During this mission, Pidge revealed that Shiro's old crew mates were her father and brother, yet despite their best efforts the search proved mostly futile when they learned from other prisoners that Pidge's family were no longer aboard the ship. They did manage to rescue several prisoners, and with the Red Lion retrieved, the Paladins were able to obtain the Black Lion and eventually form Voltron, destroying Sendak's ship. Concern for her missing relatives would eventually interfere with Pidge's ability to unify with her team and form Voltron at will, prompting Shiro to accompany her on a trip to the wreckage of Sendak's ship to try and learn what she could about the missing pair. Talking to the prisoners had revealed a disturbing account of Shiro attacking her brother Matt before engaging a Galra gladiator, who then appeared as a Robeast that the Paladins were forced to engage. Shiro's reawakened memories of the monster revealed that he had injured Matt in order to ensure that he would not face the gladiator and be harmed or killed, something that Pidge was immensely grateful to Shiro for. At this time Shiro revealed that he knew about her real identity, but promised that he would keep it a secret. The Space Mice felt no such need for secrecy and confided in Allura, who approached Pidge, hoping that she would open up, only for Pidge to announce her intention to leave the Paladins and search for her missing relatives. However, her solo mission was halted when the still-living Sendak and his subordinate Haxus destroyed the castle's power crystal and then infiltrated it after Hunk and Coran had left in search of a new one and Keith and Allura had left to attend to the local Arusian population, who were under attack. With Lance injured and Shiro captured, it fell to Pidge and the Space Mice to thwart the Galrans and enable the return of their allies. Realizing that she had become part of something larger, Pidge decided to stay with the team, and further decided to tell the team that she was actually a girl; despite fears that it would change how her friends looked at her, she was readily accepted by all for who she was. The Castle of Lions then departed Arus to go to the aid of a Balmera that the Galra had been mining for energy crystals. During the mission to save the planet, Pidge revealed that she had modified the Green Lion with a cloaking device, and with her comrades, managed to save the Balmerans. The group was then forced to contend with another Robeast as well as the Balmera's imminent collapse, but were able to defeat the monster while Allura healed the living planetoid thanks to her bond with the world. Sadly, the group would then deal with the consequences of Sendak's previous takeover of the castle, as Galran crystal energy polluted the system and corrupted the A.I. of Allura's father Alfor, causing it to try to destroy them and ultimately forcing Allura to erase the virtual copy of her father. Piecing together the information recovered from Sendak's ship and extracted memories, the team then learned of a transport hub that she infiltrated in order to gain information about Zarkon's plans. When the hub proved to have no information, Allura and Shiro boarded an arriving ship in search of the information, only for the group to be exposed and forced to flee without Allura. This led them to attempt an ill-fated assault on Zarkon's central command, where Zarkon's immense power caused Voltron to separate and forced the pilots to fight separately against the overwhelming number of Galran ships. They succeeded in rescuing Allura, but during the escape their wormhole was blasted by Haggar, causing it to deteriorate and apparently scatter all five lions and the castle to places unknown. Pidge and the Green Lion ended up on a junk nebula, with nothing but strange Space Caterpillars for company. Pidge explored her new location, but only found the Space Caterpillars. Pidge talked to the Caterpillars, telling them about how she ended up on the nebula and the other Paladins. Pidge used the junk to create garbage versions of the other Paladins, joking around with them in turn. She then noticed that the Green Lion was working again. Pidge then started using parts in wreckage to construct a satilite in hopes of contacting the other Paladins. Pidge finishes building the satilite, but I doesn't work. However, with a little help from the Green Lion, the satilite activated, and locked on to the Castle of Lions. Allura and Coran then found Pidge, and informing her that she got them out of the time loop. Pidge told them the Catapillars helped too. Pidge then finds Keith and Shiro. She the next followed the beacon to find Lance and Hunk. Shiro was taken back to the Castle of Lions for healing. Shiro later awoke, and Pidge witnessed it. Pidge later deciphered the codes in Shrios arm, finding coordinates to the Blade of Marmora. When they arrived, they found nothing, but soon discovered an intruder in the Castle. Pidge later tracked the intruder, who got past her, despite her attempts to stop him using her Bayard. The intruder ran past Keith, Pidge dragging behind him with her Bacardi still attached to the intruder. The intruder then swung Pidge into Keith. Shrio then arrived and the intruder was revealed as Ulaz, the Galra who saved Shiro. Pidge was sceptical on Ulazs claims of the outpost, but I was revealed to be true. Personality Pidge is a technical genius, and is more than capable of quickly learning how to operate advanced alien technology. She is also an intensely private person, often needing some measure of personal space and has a hard time bonding with others. She had a profoundly hard time with her psychic training due to this deep-seated aspect of her personality. Among her teammates, she is closest to Shiro and Hunk. Her close friendship with Shiro is due to him having known of her from his time working with her brother and father. Pidge often looks to Shiro for guidance, and Shiro often offers perspective and focus when Pidge is anxious or scared. Her bond deepened when she forgave Shiro for wounding her brother Matt in his gladiator days after Shiro explained that he did it to keep Matt from fighting in Zarkon's arena. Since then, Shiro has been Pidge's closest friend/surrogate brother. Hunk and Pidge get along due to their common ground as science experts, Hunk's cheery demeanor balancing out Pidge's excitability, and their shared history as Galaxy Garrison cadets. They often work together on the Lions to install Pidge's constant upgrades to them, and they often get caught in ridiculous situations together. Along with Shiro, Pidge is usually the first to call out Lance on his overly flirtatious personality, usually in the form of comical displays of violence such as punching him, shocking him, and so on. This likely stems from her having put up with Lance's commentary and shallowness during her time at the Garrison. Pidge finds Keith to be somewhat "emo" due to his aggressive and brooding personality. Despite this, they still work well as comrades and colleagues along with their closeness to Shiro and care for his well-being. The two are also the physically fastest of the team in terms of running speed. Pidge is also something of a hoarder, collecting every last piece of new technology she can get her hands on, and trying to create something better out of even the most advanced machines available. She is always looking to improve upon what is around her, allowing her to adapt and thrive even in the most difficult or unconventional circumstances, even if it means dismantling alien tech and risking the lives of herself and those around her, such as when she cobbled together a tank of booster fuel for the pod that Hunk and Coran used to harvest a Balmeran crystal for the Castle Ship. She is a little person who leaves a large mess in her wake, be it her large collection of alien tech or the bodies and armor of her fallen enemies. Pidge is excitable, curious, playful, and also quite sassy. She cannot keep herself from fawning over and playing with any new tech that she can get her hands on, as was the case when she kept playing with Rolo's cyber unit, Beezer. Pidge is in constant awe of the amazing sights around her. When she and Shiro went after the Green Lion on the jungle planet, Pidge could only gaze in wonder at the breath-taking scenery. Even their sloth-like guide seemed bemused at her curiosity. Pidge defies people. She got into the Garrison and found out about her brother and father's disappearance, which was a crime. She's captured and interrogated aliens, and also isn't afraid to speak her mind to her teammates when they irritate her. She's driven by four things in life: Finding her family, protecting her friends, fighting the Galra, and exploring the world around her. She is very close to her brother, often having goofed around by hacking into their father's communication systems while he was on missions. Their resemblance is further noted due to their similarly scientific areas of perseverance, developed fierce personalities, and even their fighting styles pack the same wallop. Pidge also seems as close to her father as to her brother if not closer. When it comes to subjects about her family, Pidge can be single-minded and very stubborn to the point she will not listen to anyone and can be very irrational, one example is when Allura stated that with Lotor's help, they could bring the war to an end and help others and save other's Pidge rejected the idea immediately stating that her father was more important and not listening to reason. Pidge shows how much more emotional side of her personality when it comes to her family one example is when she stood in front of Matt's "grave" Pidge was grief-stricken when she thought she had lost her brother another example is when Zarkon held her father prisoner and was double-crossed during their exchange of handing Lotor over for Sam, Pidge showed a much more angered side of her personality. Pidge certainly embodies her Lion's elemental affiliation of the Forest: constantly adapting to her surroundings, sustaining and protecting the people around her, and is able to thrive in even the harshest circumstances. Abilities Pidge is a technological genius of the highest order and has even learned how to operate advanced alien technology on the fly. She is agile, nimble, and uses a Bayard that takes the form of a small, arrow-shaped blade that possesses the ability to deliver a painful electric shock (a fact which Lance discovered firsthand), a grapple function that can be used for both transport and incapacitating enemies, and has an edge that can cut through extremely thick metal plating with little to no trouble. As the smallest member of team Voltron, Pidge is easy to underestimate, and can easily go unnoticed where her larger and flashier teammates would be discovered. Her technical skills have aided the team immensely, initially with discovering the approach of an alien spacecraft and finding the first of the lions, but also in retrofitting cloaking technology to the Green Lion and adapting other technology to suit the team's needs. Her mind can work like a computer, and is even able to predict and prepared if for any of the other reason that one of the other paladins going rogue. Pidge is surprisingly skilled in hand-to-hand combat, able to duel the veteran Galra soldier Haxus on even ground, and even scored a decisive blow against Sendak by cutting his prosthetic arm off with her Bayard. Unlike the other Paladins, Pidge's Bayard offers more than just offensive power. Using its grapple function she can take control of the battlefield by using it to outmaneuver her opponents while entangling them and controlling them at the same time. Pidge is quick thinking and dangerous for it, able to overload an Altean power generator to create an electrical surge to incapacitate her foes despite relatively little experience with such systems. Pidge's skills as a fighter are based primarily on her flexibility, speed, intelligence, and creativity. Pidge's athletic abilities, though often overlooked, are quite impressive. She is able to effectively dance around her opponents, displaying agility and grace that surprise those around her that are more familiar with her seemingly nerdy exterior than her skills in combat. She is also quite fast, able to ascend to the top of the Green Lion's hiding spot in mere moments without the assistance of her armor or jet pack. Pidge is quite flexible, able to combat several Galra sentries within the Castle's ventilation systems with minimal difficulty and impressive results. In tandem with her brother, Pidge was capable of knocking out a Galra bounty hunter with a combined punch to the face, indicating that she has honed her hand-to-hand combat prowess as well as her physical strength. Likely due to her training, it appears that Pidge has developed above well above average strength for a girl her size and age. Pidge is also quite skilled in committing multiple acts of espionage with extreme skill, such as breaking into Galaxy Garrison systems and being able to decipher their records on more than one occasion. She was also presumably able to create a convincing fake identification and history in order to infiltrate the Garrison under the name "Pidge Gunderson," and managed to lie her way past [[Commander Iverson|Commander''' Iverson]] ' despite the two of them having a notable history of conflict, as he was unable to recognize her despite having simply cut her hair, adding a pair of glasses, and worn loose-fitting clothes to hide her body type as the primary elements of her disguise. Pidge also likely faked her medical records for this part of her undercover mission, as a space exploration program would likely have required information on applicants' physical condition and health history. All in all, this shows how profoundly skilled Pidge is at espionage, subterfuge, and deception, unquestionably having committed multiple felonies and high treason in the process without getting caught. While not studying as a fighter pilot officially, Pidge read all the flight manuals she could find at the Galaxy Garrison and shows immediate skill piloting the Green Lion. She used the Lion's adaptability and the advanced Altean technology available in the Castle to upgrade it for increased stealth and communication capability. Her weakness at piloting lies in her nervousness and self-doubt, but over the course of the show she grows as a Paladin and strengthens her bond with her Lion. She is especially good as reconnaissance missions. Notes * Pidge is the youngest of the Paladins, described as being 14.San Diego Comic-Con 2016 Her age as well as nationality was clarified in ''The Paladin's Handbook official guidebook, revealing she is 15 and Italian. ** The Voltron Coalition Handbook states that a year has passed since Shiro's return to Earth, making Pidge 16 at the youngest by the time season six ends. ** Pidge is seen making a metal brother named Chip at the end of season 8. She creates him with her real brother Matt Holt. * This is the first incarnation of Pidge and the first full-time pilot of the Green Lion to be a girl. Lauren Montgomery was the one who insisted that Pidge should be a girl to show how a female character could occupy the space usually given to male characters with nothing in the story needing to change.Washington Post, June 2016 * The alias Pidge uses at the Garrison is "Pidge Gunderson". The name "Pidge" is a nickname given to her by her brother prior to his capture by the Galra Empire. * When Pidge reveals her true identity as a girl, every other member of Team Voltron aside from Lance admits to having already known: ** Shiro knew of Katie's existence from being with her father Dr. Holt and her brother Matt and deduced her true identity after she revealed they were her father and brother. ** Hunk and Keith figured it out off screen. *** Pidge carries a picture of herself with her brother. Initially Hunk thought that it was a picture of Pidge's girlfriend. ** Allura found out via her talking mice, who acquired the knowledge by being present when Shiro and Pidge spoke about her secret. ** Coran was surprised that Pidge had been trying to come off as a boy when it was obvious to him she was not - despite this, he refers to Pidge as "he" early in . * The glasses Pidge wears were given to her by her brother as a memento and contain fake lenses because the Galaxy Garrison corrected her brother's eyesight. * It's shown that Pidge has a good knowledge on video games, seen as she was geeking out over a rare console called "Mercury Game Flux" and an old RPG 'Killbot Phantasm 1" during Space Mall. * In her appearance before infiltrating the Garrison, Pidge's violet headband is highly reminiscent of the green one worn by her original Voltron: Defender of The Universe incarnation. * Pidge's real name was revealed in Return of the Gladiator. * Before the Castle of Lions was destroyed Pidge kept Space Caterpillars and her garbage buddies in her bedroom and took them with her as the castle was evacuated. * In Season 7, Pidge was shown playing Killbot Fantasy in the Green Lion (Legendary Defender). * Pidge's favorite metal is Palladium. References Category:Voltron: Legendary Defender characters Category:Characters Category:Humans Category:Paladins Category:Females Category:Voltron Coalition